GREEN: STAND

As I've said before, this song is where I come into the story.  I was of course a fan of MTV back in the day and how could this song escape notice?!  It was ubiquitous and catchy and then the theme to one of my favorite TV shows everything was working out for me to discover the band.  Alas, this was the era of the Cassette Single.  Whoops.  All I had to do was cough up $3 (Yikes right?  Songs are $1 now) and the song was mine along with Memphis Train Blues which I also loved.  So why didn't I buy the album?  Money was the chief concern as I was too young to have any.  But, you might say, how did you afford Rhythm Nation, 1814?  Well I just did, okay?  Shut up.  I can't say why I didn't buy the whole album.  I thought Stand was great, but I was still more into dance music at this phase.  Not to worry, in one short year, I would own both Green and Tourfilm and the rest would be history.  In fact, Green and Eponymous were my next R.E.M. purchases thanks to my friend Seth.
  So under Warner Bros, the band found a much wider audience and this song, admittedly very bubblegum akin to groups like The Monkees, was a huge part of it.  It's almost a big joke song.  They had never written songs as elementary as Stand and Pop Song 89 right?  They were selling out!  Ahem.  We Walk, Second Guessing, Hyena, Finest Worksong ... I could go on.  Although, the sound of this sort of simplicity was starting to sound too easy and too slick.  The songs are still great, but there are more tracks, more piano and keyboard filling.  The thing to remember here is that for every Stand with layered tracks there is a Wrong Child or Hairshirt.  The band is definitely rebelling in a way that made them feel that Out Of Time could've ruined their careers and that Automatic For The People would end up being their pinnacle. 
  Lyrically, this song is kind of simple.  Yet the line about wishes being trees is brilliant and if we break the words of the song down to their basic level there is a hidden agenda of standing up for what you believe in.  It's inspirational in a way.  Mixing the directions of NESW to the direction your life is taking is pretty cool stuff.  We also revisit the work theme from the previous album with a nod to diverting your attention from the job to what is really important. 
  There are some differences here to what you find online.  Including putting parentheticals around overlapping lines, translating the last high pitched squeals in the last chorus ... which might be done using a mouth box ala Peter Frampton.



STAND

Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before

If you are confused check with the sun
Carry a compass to help you along
Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head (head) is there to move you around, so

Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before

Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around
If wishes were trees the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, season is calling

Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before

If wishes were trees the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, reason is calling
Your feet (feet) are going to be on the ground
Your head (head) is there (there) to move you around

So Stand
(Stand)
Now face north
Think about direction, wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand
(Stand)
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t

Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before

Stand in the place where you are
(Now face north)
Stand in the place where you are
(Now face north)
Your feet are going to be on the ground
(Stand in the place where you are)
(Now face you)
Your head is there to move you around
(Now me)
So stand

  This song took some time.  It's not the real reason I haven't posted for so long, but I wanted to do the song justice and really sit down with it.  The thing to remember here is that the d and g strings are the key in the chorus.  Once you hit the 'A note' on the g string, you can do everything by sliding on those two strings.  It took a few listens and a couple of live versions to hear the sliding up to the 6th fret before the B chord, what gave it away was when the lyrics don't repeat in the chorus after the lead.  You get a good listen to the slide.  Also, in the key changes don't worry too much about the picking as he goes straight to barred chords.  I was trying to do this fancy thing with an F7 shape up the fretboard and then I listened closer.
  Also, with the lead, he is obviously using a Wah-Wah Pedal.  What I have below is a mix of the real and extended notes he is playing.  It's not too bad of a lead considering he came up with it in an hour ... allegedly while the rest of the band was on a lunch break.

STAND

Intro

e|------------|

B|-0----------|

G|-4b---2-0---|

D|------------|

A|------------|

E|------------|

Chorus

e|--------------0-0--|

B|---0----------0-0--|

G|--1-2-2-6-4---9-8--|

D|-2------6-4---9-9--|

A|----------2---0-0--|

E|----------0---0-0--|

e|--------------|

B|---0----------|

G|--1-2-2-6-4---|

D|-2------6-4---|

A|----------2---|

E|----------0---|

Verse

e|------------------------------|

B|---0-----0--------------------|

G|----9<----7<-6-6-5-4-4-4-4-4--|

D|--9-----7----6-6-5-4-4-4-4-4--|

A|-7-----5-----4-4-3-2-0-2-2-0--|

E|------------------------------|

e|-------------3-5-7--|

B|---0-----0---3-5-7--|

G|----9<----7<-4-6-8--|

D|--9-----7----5-7-9--|

A|-7-----5-----5-7-9--|

E|-------------3-5-7--|

Lead

e|--------------------------------------------------------------|

B|-3-5h-5-3-3-5h-3-3-5h-5-3-5-3-5-3-8-8-0-5-5-0-3>5-5-3-3-0-3-5-|

G|-------4------4-----------------------------------------------|

D|--------------------------------------------------------------|

A|--------------------------------------------------------------|

E|--------------------------------------------------------------|

e|------------------------------------------------------------2>-|

B|-8-7-8>10-10-10-10-10-8-7-5-5-7h---3p-0-5-3p-0-5-5-3---3-5-5---|

G|--------------------------------9-4------4------4---4-4--------|

D|---------------------------------------------------------------|

A|---------------------------------------------------------------|

E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

End (Key Changes)

e|-2---2---6-4---|

B|-2---2---6-4---|

G|-3---4---8-6---|

D|-4---4---8-6---|

A|-4---2---6-4---|

E|-2---2---6-4---|

e|-4---4----8-6---|

B|-4---4----8-6---|

G|-5---6---10-8---|

D|-6---6---10-8---|

A|-6---4----8-6---|

E|-4---4----8-6---|

End on Ab